High School: Las Vegas Academy of the Arts in Las Vegas, NV
class of 2017
Activities & Accomplishments:
Student Ambassador
Spanish Honor Society
Front of House
Theater Major
Delta GEMS (Highest GPA award)
High School Congressional Art Competition (2nd Place winner)
Best Memories:
I wanted to do something to make my mark. However, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do. In 2014, my life was monotonous; I would just go to school and go home every single day. I did not want to be in any sports, so I figured I had to find something else to do. It was May when we received our last major projects of the year. In my photography class, my teacher Mrs. Ferro told us we had to compose a portfolio and submit at least one of the pictures to two different photo competitions. The main competition was the High School Congressional Art Competition. This competition lets high school students all over the country compete within each congressional district. They are allowed to compete with paintings, drawings, collages, prints, mixed media, computer-generated art, and photographs.
Mrs. Ferro still remains one of the best teachers I have ever had, because she is such a free-spirited and creative person. She is the type of person to drive out into the middle of nowhere to get the perfect picture. I really enjoyed my photography class because she encouraged us to “think outside the box”. Mrs. Ferro always admired my work and said I had a lot of potential; she would see my photos and give me little tips to improve so I would continue to get better. Although I thought my pictures were interesting, I never thought that they were amazing, so when she told us about the competition, it just went in one ear and out the other. I took my pictures for the grade and that was all. Since we did have a little more creative freedom with this project, for one of my pictures I decided to edit together different aspects of Las Vegas. I took pictures of palm trees, planes, the Stratosphere, the Luxor, and other objects that represent “Vegas Life”. It was simple yet interesting, so I went for it. I finished my portfolio and I chose the images that I wanted to submit to the competition - The Las Vegas photo was not one of them. We were able to submit however many we wanted, but I only chose to send one picture to each contest. I just felt that the Las Vegas photo was not that original. There are tons of images of the Las Vegas skyline. In my photo I just combined each aspect into one main view, to make them stand out. However, after the submission deadline was over, my teacher told me she submitted my Las Vegas photo anyway. Although I originally did not plan on sending that photo, part of me was pleased to hear that she went out of her way to send it in for me.
A couple of weeks later, she informed us of the photo award ceremony date. She said that they were holding it in the Smith Center. “I want to see all of your faces there!” she said. Despite her saying this, I did not plan on going. Why would I want to sit in some theater and look at hundreds of drawings and photos? That Friday on my way out of class, she pulled me to the side, “You’re going to the competition, right?”she asked. I explained, “No, I don’t think I can”. “I really feel you should go!” she told me. At that point, I saw something in her eyes that told me I was making the wrong decision not to go, so I went to the competition. When I walked into the theater, it was packed. Everyone was there: teachers, students, family members, and congressmen. I sat down next to one of my classmates and we watched the slideshow, clapping especially when we saw pieces from our school. Finally, they started to announce who placed and called everyone to the stage except for me and a couple other people. I questioned if they forgot about us. There were only three of us left in line and a woman to the side told us, “You know what that means?” They called one more person and then I heard, “Kailen Turner in second place for her photo, Vegas Bound” I really couldn't process what was going on. I just felt myself grinning and walking up to the stage to shake Joe Heck’s hand. I was at the front of the stage with my picture. The picture that I thought wasn't that great, the picture I thought was not good enough to be submitted was going to be placed in Washington DC for the next year.
I did it. The judges chose my photo. At that moment, I realized that you really are your worst critic. Walking out of the room, I was overcome with so much pride. Everyone was congratulating me and taking pictures. The whole time, my teacher believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. After this, I took on an entirely different outlook towards photography. I began taking photos outside of school so I can get better each day. I have not competed in this competition since then, but I’d be more than willing to if I receive the chance in the future. As Theodore Roosevelt said, “Believe you can and you're halfway there”.
